Weekly Travel Report W/C 15/12/14

Monday 15th December

No Travel

Tuesday 16th December

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360107 - Carriage: 74557

3rd of 4 Carriages (from the front)

Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:11 (1 Minute Early)

Temperature: 17.2 to 19.3 degrees C

Humidity: 44 to 47 %

Notes: Dirty floors and exterior, faded seat covers, no bins between doors D and gangway to 72557.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360109 & 360112 - Carriage: 68562

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 17.0 to 18.1 C

Humidity: 42 to 45 %

Notes: Filthy floors, papers everywhere, heaters on floor are stone cold. No automated announcement on approach to Shenfield.

Wednesday 17th December

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360111 - Carriage: 74561

2nd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:04 (1 Minute Late)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:05 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:13 (1 Minute Late)

Temperature: 19.4 to 20.1 C

Humidity: 49 to 50 %

Notes: Dull faded seats, marks and stains on the floor.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360107 & 360118 - Carriage: 65568

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:18 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:27 (On Time)

Temperature: 18.9 to 19.9 C

Humidity: 55 %

Notes: Dirty floors, rubbish everywhere, although there were a lot of papers on the luggage racks above the seats, stains on seats.

Thursday 18th December

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360115 - Carriage: 74565

3rd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:12 (On Time)

Temperature: 20.1 to 21.5 C

Humidity: 51 to 56 %

Notes: Filthy everywhere, exterior, seats, carpets, you name it.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360101 & 360119 - Carriage: 68569

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:25 (2 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 17.6 to 19.8 C

Humidity: 57 %

Notes: Papers and rubbish everywhere, dirty floors and threadbare seats, No automated announcement on the approach to Shenfield.

Friday 19th December

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360120 - Carriage: 72570

2nd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:01 (2 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 21:11 (1 Minute Early)

Temperature: 19.2 to 20.7 C

Humidity: 46 to 50 %

Notes: Usual dirty, threadbare seats and dirty floors.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360114 & 360104 - Carriage: 65554

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:14 (2 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 16.8 to 19.1 C

Humidity: 45 to 47 %

Notes: Faded, dirty seats, dirty floor and exterior. No where to sit on Platform 1 at Chelmsford, while waiting for trains as benches have been taken up.

Saturday 20th December

11:03 SNF to 11:12 CHM

Train: 360117 & 360108 - Carriage: 65558

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 11:02 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 11:11 (1 Minute Early)

Temperature: 20.9 to 21.9 C

Humidity: 43 to 44 %

Notes: Dirty inside and out, 360108 still has old Greater Anglia logos.

20:09 CHM to 20:19 SNF

Train: 360119 & 360101 - Carriage: 65551

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 20:08 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 20:09 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 20:18 (1 Minute Early)

Temperature: 19.1 to 21.0 C

Humidity: 43 to 44 %

Notes: Filthy, disgusting and horrible! No automated announcement on the approach to Shenfield, third time this week. New benches put in place of the old ones on Platform 1 at Chelmsford.

Sunday 21st December

10:02 SNF to 10:11 CHM

Train: 360104 & 360114 - Carriage: 65564

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 9:58 (4 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 10:02 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 10:10 (2 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 20.2 to 21.4 C

Humidity: 45 to 46 %

Notes: Dirty outside, dirty floors, not too much rubbish, burn marks on the back of seats.

19:30 CHM to 19:40 SNF

Train: 360121 & 360108 - Carriage: 74558

6th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 19:32 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of CHM @ 19:33 (3 Minutes Late)

Pulled into SNF @ 19:43 (3 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 16.6 to 19.2 C

Humidity: 52 to 54 %

Notes: Dirty inside and out, 360108 still has old Greater Anglia logos. No automated announcement on the approach to Shenfield.

General Notes:

Four times this week, there has been no announcements on the approach to Shenfield from Chelmsford in the evenings. (Tues 68562, Thurs 68569, Sat 65551, Sun 74558) - A total of 4 minutes late across the week. Cleanliness is an ongoing issue on all of the trains I've travelled on this week, like most weeks, no train presentation team seen at all this week, litter pickers or actual cleaners. WHSmith at Chelmsford now looks ready to re-open.

The Greater Anglia Franchise Wish List

As you may know, the public consultation for the new Anglia franchise (currently run by Abellio Greater Anglia or AGA) is under way. The current franchise comes to an end in October 2016. The link to the consultation is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/east-anglia-rail-passenger-franchise - Please go and fill it in.

But we, as commuters who run the AGA Complaints group on Facebook and the @Delayed_Again account on Twitter would like to compile a wish list of you, as commuters want from the new franchise (and if possible) from the remainder one. The idea of the wish list is that it will compliment the public consultation and reinforce what the commuters actually want from the franchise and doesn't just cover subjects that are touched upon in the public consultation. To coin a phrase, power to the people!

If you are on Twitter, you could tweet me at @RealDC80 and/or @Delayed_Again with your ideas using Hash tag: #GreaterAngliaWishList, join my AGA Complaints group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/agacomplaints or e-mail greaterangliacomplaints@gmail.com if you're not on Facebook or Twitter.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Weekly Travel Report W/C 08/12/14

Monday 8th December

No Travel

Tuesday 9th December

See Special Travel Report here: http://dcabellioga.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/special-if-not-mad-travel-report-9th.html

Wednesday 10th December

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360102 - Carriage: 68552

1st (from the front) of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:05 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:05 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:14 (2 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 17.5 to 20.1 degrees C

Humidity: 39 to 45 %

Notes: Usual filthy floor and rubbish everywhere.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360117 & 360118 - Carriage: 65568

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:14 (2 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 15.4 to 18.4 C

Humidity: 41 to 45 %

Notes: Dirty, threadbare seats, filthy floors.

Thursday 11th December

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360110 - Carriage: 74560

3rd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:05 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:13 (1 Minute Late)

Temperature: 18.8 to 20.2 C

Humidity: 44 to 45 %

Notes: Usual stains on seats & dirty floors. Heating didn't appear to be too eager but temperature was comfortable enough.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360109 & 360119 - Carriage: 68569

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:25 (2 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 17.9 to 19.4 C

Humidity: 47 %

Notes: Papers everywhere, dirty walls, dirty floors & threadbare seats.

Friday 12th December

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360117 - Carriage: 74567

3rd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:11 (1 Minute Early)

Temperature: 16.8 to 17.5 C

Humidity: 49 to 52 %

Notes: Usual dirty carpets, faded seats, etc, not really warm enough.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360116 - Carriage: 74566

2nd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:26 (1 Minute Early)

Temperature: 17.5 to 19.7 C

Humidity: 40 to 54 %

Notes: Short formed, 4 carriages instead of the usual 8 carriages. Filthy, threadbare seats and carpets.

Saturday 13th December

11:03 SNF to 11:12 CHM

Train: 360120 & 360101 - Carriage: 65551

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 11:01 (2 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 11:11 (1 Minute Early)

Temperature: 15.5 to 19.0 C

Humidity: 40 to 44 %

Notes: Threadbare seats, dirty floors. Amazingly, the exterior of 360120 was spotlessly clean, didn't get a photo or video as I didn't have my camera ready. Heating appeared to be working fine on the carriage I was on.

20:09 CHM to 20:19 SNF

Train: 360112 & 360118 - Carriage: 72568

6th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 20:08 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 20:09 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 20:19 (On Time)

Temperature: 19.0 to 20.8 C

Humidity: 41 to 51 %

Notes: Relatively clean seats, but some were torn and/or not fitted properly, dirty floors and rubbish everywhere.

Sunday 14th December

No Travel

General Notes:

Lucky to not get caught up in the various delays this week. Only 2 of my trains were late getting to my destination, totalling 3 minutes of lateless, which for AGA is a good record, all other trains were early or on time getting to my destination. There was 1 short formed train this week, not a bad record considering all the other reported train faults reported this week.

Special (if not mad) Travel Report - 9th December 2014

Special Journey Report - 9th December 2014

Station Codes:
SNF = Shenfield
RMF = Romford
UPM = Upminster
FST = London Fenchurch Street
TH = Tower Hill Underground Station
LST = London Liverpool Street
SRA = Stratford (London)
HII = Highbury & Islington (London)

AGA (Abellio Greater Anglia)
11:20 SNF to 11:28 RMF
Train: 360107 Carriage: 72557
3rd of 4 Carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 11:19 (1 minute early)
Pulled out of SNF @ 11:20 (On time)
Pulled into RMF @ 11:28 (On time)
Temp: 20.2 to 21.1 C
Humidity: 40 to 47 %
Notes: Standing room only, temp getting colder.

AGA
11:41 RMF to 11:50 UPM
Train: 317649 Carriage: 62846
2nd of 4 Carriages
Pulled into RMF @ 11:34 (7 minutes early)
Pulled out of RMF @ 11:41 (On time)
Pulled into UPM @ 11:51 (1 minute late)
Temp: 17.5 to 18.4 C
Humidity: 42 to 45 %
Notes: Filthy, cold, heating not working. Temp decreasing.

c2c
12:02 UPM to 12:24 FST
Train: 357211 Carriage: 74711
3rd of 4 Carriages
Pulled into UPM @ 12:01 (1 minute early)
Pulled out of UPM @ 12:02 (On time)
Pulled into FST @ 12:25 (1 minute late)
Temp: 17.1 to 18.1 C
Humidity: 45 to 49 %
Notes: On time, clean and tidy apart from a small stain on one seat, white exterior clean too. Temp increasing, seats showing signs of wear and tear, but good compared to AGA standards.

Circle Line train from TH to LST
Carriage: 25374
Pulled into TH @ 12:33
Pulled out of TH @ 12:33
Pulled into LST @ 12:37
Temp: 16.4 to 17.8 C
Humidity: 47 to 49 %
Notes: Clean and tidy. Cold though.

AGA
14:48 LST to 14:55 SRA
Train: 321440 Carriage: 78160
12th of 12 Carriages
Pulled out of LST @ 14:48 (On time)
Pulled into SRA @ 14:56 (1 minute late)
Temp: 18.9 to 19.2 C
Humidity: 45 to 46 %
Notes: Floor filthy, threadbare seats. Didn't see front two train unit numbers.

LO (London Overground)
15:05 SRA to 15:19 HII
Train: 378233 Carriage: 38133
1st of 4 Carriages
Pulled out of SRA @ 15:05 (On time)
Pulled into HII @ 15:20 (1 minute late)
Temp: 19.2 to 23.9 C
Humidity: 45 to 51 %
Notes: Floor a little dirty but otherwise in good condition.

LO
15:38 HII to 15:54 SRA
Train: 378228 Carriage: 38128
4th of 4 Carriages
Pulled into HII @ 15:37 (1 minute early)
Pulled out of HII @ 15:38 (On time)
Pulled into SRA @ 15:53 (1 minute early)
Temp: 20.9 to 23.4 C
Humidity: 35 to 49 %
Notes: As with other LO train. Had to stand.

AGA
15:55 SRA to 16:11 SNF
Train: 321430, 321357 & 321425 Carriage: 71973
10th of 12 Carriages
Pulled into SRA @ 15:58 (3 minutes late)
Pulled out of SRA @ 15:59 (4 minutes late)
Pulled into SNF @ 16:14 (3 minutes late)
Temp: 19.8 to 20.8 C
Humidity: 43 to 45 %
Notes: Dirty floors, although not too bad, clean seats, grey/white seats and red grab handles. Temp appears to be slowly decreasing.

General Notes:
Latenesses never over 3 or 4 minutes. In general, cleanliness of the trains was better on c2c, LO and the Circle Line train, the interiors and exteriors are all cleaner for white painted trains. Upminster Railway Station could to with an update, but certainly no worse than AGA managed railway stations. Platform 6 which is only used for AGA trains between Upminster and Romford still has some old One signage (been NXEA and AGA since).

Photo Album:
If you want to see some of the photos, feel free to join my AGA Complaints group on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/groups/agacomplaints or go here to go straight to the album: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.396283147187695&type=1

Call me mad... On my travels to and from London on Tuesday 9th December.

On Tuesday 9th December, I'm going to do something crazy. I'm going to London to meet Colin from Quiet Riots, but before you wonder, that's not even the crazy part. The crazy part is how I am going to get there and back.

As I do a lot of complaining about Abellio Greater Anglia (AGA), this blog and my Facebook group is devoted to the task, I thought I'd give two other train operators a go to see how they compare. The two in question are c2c and London Overground (LO). These two operators have a fairly good reputation, so I wanted to see what people are talking about and see if they really are as good as people say and see how much, if any, better they are compared to AGA. My journey, as always, will start at Shenfield, which is where I shall return.

Ordinarily, travelling from Shenfield to Liverpool Street would be a relatively 'simple' task of hopping on one AGA train, however, because I want to try c2c out, I'm going to go via Romford, Upminster, Fenchurch Street and Tower Hill. And yes, that does mean braving the twice hourly AGA trains on the Romford to Upminster branch line and having to walk from Fenchurch Street to Tower Hill before popping onto a Circle Line train to Liverpool Street. I told you I was mad!

After meeting Colin, I'm going to check out LO to see what they're like. The route I have chosen takes me from Liverpool Street to Stratford, either by Central Line or AGA, before getting on a LO train to Highbury and Islington, then boarding a Victoria Line train to Oxford Circus and from there, a Central Line train to either Liverpool Street or Stratford, before boarding an AGA train back to Shenfield.

I'm taking my digital camera to take photos and videos wherever I can, so we have some evidence, good or bad, to compare AGA to their counterparts.

I shall report back on Tuesday evening with my travel report blog and with the photos and/or videos I have taken of my travels. I'll also be checking in, via Swarm to the various stations and the check ins will get posted to my Twitter and Facebook accounts for those of you who follow me.

Over running engineering works on 8th December

So much as we hate AGA, sometimes Network Rail are just as guilty for annoying the hell out of commuters. Lately we've had plenty of infrastructure faults which neither AGA or NR have never apologised for, but on 8th December we had over running engineering works, combined with AGA not having contingency plans, causing as much hell for commuters as on previous occasions. We have an apology from Richard Schofield of NR on AGA's website at: http://www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk/about-us/news/2014/12/apology-for-service-disruption-monday-8-december

And here is the apology for when AGA delete it:

We are genuinely sorry for the problems that affected train services this morning.
 
As part of the ongoing programme to upgrade the railway line between London and Norwich, we were installing new track at Seven Kings. Unfortunately, we encountered unforeseen problems while carrying out this work.
 
After removing the old track and digging up the track foundations, the condition of the track foundations was not as expected, meaning we needed more time to complete the work. Unfortunately when carrying out upgrades on the network we do sometimes encounter problems such as these.
 
Please accept our apologies for this morning’s problems. We are acutely aware of the frustration and inconvenience felt by passengers when things go wrong, and are taking action to improve performance standards and service consistency.

Richard Schofield
Route Director
Network Rail

Please Richard, get this sorted out, no more over runs, no more failures of the infrastructure which blight peoples lives. The faults risk peoples jobs and livelihoods with the delays they cause.

Weekly Travel Report W/C 01/12/14

Train Station Codes:

SNF = Shenfield

CHM = Chelmsford

Monday 1st December

No Travel

Tuesday 2nd December

11:41 SNF to 11:52 CHM

Train: 360104 - Carriage: 74554

3rd of 4 Carriages (from the front)

Pulled into SNF @ 11:41 (On Time)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:42 (1 Minute Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 11:53 (1 Minute Late)

Temperature: 17.9 to 20.4 C

Humidity: 45 to 51 %

Notes: Dirty floors and seats.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360111 & 360112 - Carriage: 65562

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:25 (2 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 17.2 to 19.6 C

Humidity: 48 to 52 %

Notes: Dirty, Rubbish everywhere. bumpy ride.

Wednesday 3rd December

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM
Train: 360108 - Carriage: 65558
1sr of 4 Carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)
Pulled into CHM @ 12:11 (1 Minute Early)
Temperature: 19.5 to 21.8 C
Humidity: 45 to 48 %
Notes: Slightly dirty seats and floor, torn seats.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train: 360104 & 360115 - Carriage: 65565
5th of 8 Carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of CHM @ 21:17 (1 Minute Late)
Pulled into SNF @ 21:26 (1 Minute Early)
Temperature: 16.4 to 18.5 C
Humidity: 46 to 50 %
Notes: Dirty threadbare seats and dirty floors.

Thursday 4th December
12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM
Train: 360117 - Carriage: 68567
1st of 4 Carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 12:01 (2 Minutes Early)
Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)
Pulled into CHM @ 12:11 (1 Minute Early)
Temperature: 21.0 to 21.9 C
Humidity: 44 to 45 %
Notes: Threadbare seats, member of AGA staff on board.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train: 360101 & 360110 - Carriage: 65560
5th of 8 Carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)
Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)
Temperature: 15.9 to 19.7 C
Humidity: 53 to 59 %
Notes: Rubbish everywhere again, not a surprise.

Friday 5th December
12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM
Train: 360112 - Carriage: 74562
2nd of 4 Carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)
Pulled into CHM @ 12:12 (On Time)
Temperature: 16.2 to 17.4 C
Humidity: 51 to 52 %
Notes: Seats relatively clean apart from a few pieces of rubbish debris.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train: 360118 & 360108 - Carriage: 68558
5th of 8 Carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)
Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)
Temperature: 14.7 to 17.3 C
Humidity: 46 to 48 %
Notes: Dirty exterior, papers everywhere, threadbare seats, heaters not on.

Saturday 6th December
11:03 SNF to 11:12 CHM
Train: 360113 & 360107 - Carriage: 65557
5th of 8 Carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 11:01 (2 Minutes Early)
Pulled out of SNF @ 11:02 (Left 30 Seconds Early)
Pulled into CHM @ 11:11 (1 Minute Early)
Temperature: 22.1 to 23.0 C
Humidity: 36 to 46 %
Notes: Heaters on, dirty floors and rubbish everywhere.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train: 360121 & 360109- Carriage: 65559
5th of 8 Carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 20:08 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of CHM @ 20:09 (On Time)
Pulled into SNF @ 20:18 (1 Minute Early)
Temperature: 16.5 to 18.6
Humidity: 41 to 47 %
Notes: Dirty/Threadbare seats, dirty floor.

Sunday 7th December
No Travel

General Notes:

Bizarrely, given the delays caused primarily by various track defects at Manor Park, Romford and Stratford, all my trains, with one exception (which was only 1 minute late) were on time or early getting to my destination. Didn't stop the trains being dirty and/or threadbare. I did not see any of the Train Presentation Team on any train this week, unlike previous weeks.

On Tuesday 9th December, I'll be travelling to London Liverpool Street to meet Colin (the chicken) from Quiet Riots and from there I plan to use one or two London Overground services and one or two c2c services  (using the Underground were needed) to see how they compare to AGA's services. Look out for my blog report on Tuesday.

Don't forget to keep sending in your videos, read this blog post for details: http://dcabellioga.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/building-case-against-abellio-greater.html

An Open Letter to Jamie Burles and Management at Abellio Greater Anglia

Dear Mr Burles.

Over the last 10 days your services have been blighted with ongoing issues every single day. There has been a whole mixed bag of infrastructure defects and failures causing delays to your passenger trains and causing your passengers a lot of grief and yet neither you or Richard Schofield from Network Rail have apologised, you haven't even attempted to copy and paste an old apology.

We know, as knowledgeable commuters, that every time an infrastructure issue causes significant delays to your services, Abellio Greater Anglia get compensation from Network Rail by way of an apology from them to you. You must be racking it is over the last 10 days, over charging your poor, unfortunate passengers for the privilege of travelling on dirty, overcrowded and late running trains, and getting compensation, hand over fist from Network Rail, especially as you won't pay out Delay Repay until passengers have been delayed by at least 30 minutes.

After than thinking about Pound signs £££££, you should be thinking about attempting to keep your passengers happy. I know you have them over a barrel, seen as most people haven't got any other option than to travel by train and use your sad excuse for a train operating company, but like with any other business, it should be a priority to keep the people lining your pockets happy. To do so, you should be on Network Rail's back saying stuff like, "this isn't good enough, you can't keep delaying our trains like this, we need to run a punctual network and we can't do that if parts of your infrastructure keep breaking down."

A lot of AGA passengers, including myself, rely on AGA to get them to and from work, and most of them rely on AGA to get them to and from London for work from various places such as Ipswich, Norwich, Colchester, Clacton, Chelmsford, Wickford, Cambridge and Southminster, to name but a few. The morning delays often mean that people are late getting to work, which means businesses in London are affected because of staff lateness and the staff in question risk getting disciplined or even worse, fired, because of how often they are late for work. Do you, as a company director, think it's fair to sack a member of staff because of being late for work when it wasn't their fault they are late? Personally, I don't think it's fair, but companies, a lot which are smaller than Abellio, have no choice because of the constant knock on affect staff lateness has on their business and they can't conduct their business as efficiently as they need to when staff are getting to work late a lot of the time. And that is of course, not mentioning the affect evening rush hour delays have on people's personal and family lives. A lot of passengers have wives or girlfriends, husbands or boyfriends and quite a lot have children too, how do you think delays affect family time? Stressed out people waiting for their partners to get home from work, waiting to cook their evening meal, not getting to see their children before they're put to bed, which can lead to arguments, which in turn can lead to previously happy couples splitting up, all thanks to the incompetence of Abellio and Network Rail.

So far, I've not mentioned train faults, the reason for this is because train faults have been hiding behind Network Rail's incompetence. However they have still existed. You need to improve the maintenance programme on your trains and get more units so that train faults are far less frequent. Most of the AGA fleet is ancient and the "new" carriages you're getting from Virgin's Pretendolino, which are just as old as all the other Mark III carriages and DVT's AGA have, since you inherited all of those from Virgin too when they replaced them with their Pendolino fleet. You need new trains and more of them, and you need to maintain them properly, just as Network Rail need to maintain the infrastructure properly.

Do all of this, otherwise you will find yourselves without a franchise by the time this one is over in October 2016 and hopefully we'll find ourselves with a new franchise holder who will care more about it's passengers than lining it's own pockets with silver and gold.

Regards,

Dan Collins and all your other disgruntled passengers.

Weekly Travel Report W/C 17/11/14

Monday 17th November

No Travel

Tuesday 18th November

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360118 - Carriage: 72568

3rd (from the front) of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:04 (1 Minute Late)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:05 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:13 (1 Minute Late)

Temperature: 19.9 to 20.9 C

Humidity: 55 to 56 %

Notes: Dirty floors, smells horrible, toilet carriage. Litter picker was on board. 7 digit from the carriage number was missing from the toilet end of the carriage.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360120 & 360115 - Carriage: 65565

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:14 (2 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:25 (2 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 18.9 to 20.3 C

Humidity: 54 to 57 %

Notes: Disgusting, big stains on seats, rubbish everywhere, video and photos taken.

Wednesday 19th November

11:41 SNF to 11:52 CHM

Train: 360111 - Carriage: 72561

2nd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 11:51 (10 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:52 (11 Minutes Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:01 (9 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 19.7 to 21.1 C

Humidity: 54 to 55 %

Notes: Got this train instead of 12:03 train that I normally get. This train was running sufficiently late as a result of a track safety inspection. Dirty seats and floor. Got me to CHM 9 minutes before I would have normally been due to get there.

20:56 CHM to 21:08 SNF

Train: 360101 & 360112 - Carriage: 68562

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:03 (7 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:04 (8 Minutes Late)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:16 (8 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 19.9 to 20.4 C

Humidity: 51 to 55 %

Notes: Got this train instead of 21:16 train that I normally get. This train was running sufficiently late as a result of a points failure in Maryland. Dirty seats and floor. Got me to SNF 9 minutes before I would have normally been due to get there.

Thursday 20th November

11:41 SNF to 11:52 CHM

Train: 360110 - Carriage: 74560

2nd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 11:46 (5 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:48 (7 Minutes Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 11:58 (6 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 20.6 to 21.5 C

Humidity: 51 %

Notes: Got to SNF just after this train was timetabled to leave, with the intention of getting the 12:03 service, but this one was running sufficiently late. Dirty seats and filthy floors. Got me to CHM 14 minutes before I would have normally been there.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF

Train: 360106 & 360119 - Carriage: 65569

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:14 (2 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)

Temperature: 17.9 to 20.1 C

Humidity: 51 to 52 %

Notes: Papers everywhere and dirty floors.

Friday 21st November

11:41 SNF to 11:52 CHM

Train: 360115 - Carriage: 74565

2nd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 11:53 (12 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:54 (13 Minutes Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:04 (12 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 20.3 to 20.9 C

Humidity: 48 to 49 %

Notes: Third time in 3 days that this service has been running late enough for me to catch, when I have intended to catch the 12:03 service. Speed restrictions in the Maryland area have been blamed for this train running late. Got me to CHM 8 minutes before I would have normally been there.

20:56 CHM to 21:08 SNF

Train: 360107 & 360119 - Carriage: 65569

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:09 (13 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:10 (14 Minutes Late)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:21 (13 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 20.1 to 20.9 C

Humidity: 50 to 51 %

Notes: Second time in 3 days I have caught this service instead of the 21:16 service, a fatality between Colchester & Manningtree was blamed for the late running. Dirty with rubbish everywhere. Got me to SNF 6 minutes before I would have normally been there.

Saturday 22nd November

10:59 SNF to 11:08 CHM

Train: 321421 & 321311 - Carriage: 63083

3rd of 8 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 10:59 (On Time)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:00 (1 Minute Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 11:08 (On Time)

Temperature: 19.7 to 19.8 C

Humidity: 52 to 55 %

Notes: Change to train times, London bound trains terminating at Stratford, Southend trains terminating and starting from Shenfield. Screens and announcements stated the train was 4 carriages when it had 8 carriages, a Class 321 train instead of the normal Class 360 on this service. AGA grey seats and red grab handles. Seats and floors were filthy and external white paintwork was also filthy.

20:09 CHM to 20:19 SNF

Train: 360107 & 360119 - Carriage: 65569

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 20:08 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 20:09 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 20:18 (1 Minute Early)

Temperature: 19.9 to 20.8 C

Humidity: 62 to 64 %

Notes: Filthy as with every other night I have been on this carriage.

Sunday 23rd November

10:02 SNF to 10:11 CHM

Train: 321434 & 321334 - Carriage: 77886

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 09:59 (3 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 10:02 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 10:11 (On Time)

Temperature: 14.2 to 16.3 C

Humidity: 59 to 62 %

Notes: Heating seems to be on, but very low. only noticeable when you put your hand near the heaters. Not very good traction on pull away. Carriage was filthy and dirty and smelt like urine.

19:30 CHM to 19:40 SNF

Train: 360111 & 360110 - Carriage: 65560

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 19:32 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of CHM @ 19:33 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled into SNF @ 19:42 (2 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 13.8 to 18.1 C

Humidity: 69 to 75 %

Notes: Busy, dirty seats and floors. Heaters only mildly warm to the touch, but carriage generally cold.

General Notes:

Another week of delays, on 3 occasions I got an earlier but late running Shenfield to Chelmsford train than I normally get and on 2 occasions I got an earlier but late running Chelmsford to Shenfield train, while I got to my destination earlier than I would have normally, if I got my normal train services, I would have been later than normal. Other than that, on my normal trains I had a total of 3 minutes late. The earlier trains had a total of 48 minutes late over the course of the week.

Building a Case Against Abellio Greater Anglia

Both @Delayed_again and myself have collected a sizeable amount of photos evidencing the daily failings of abellio.  We have long toyed with the idea of keeping video logs as well and we thought that given the huge public interest in our broken railway we thought we would ask for your help in compiling our own videos to show opinion formers exactly how bad AGA are.

Therefore, we would like your help. If, while you're on one of AGA's trains, you could use your mobile phone camera (or a compact digital camera) to take videos or photos, showing the condition of the train while you're on it. Info like the date and time of your journey and what journey you're taking would help. A commentary would be good if you can, showing rubbish, dirty floors and seats, broken toilets, disruptions, rude staff, etc.

Once you've taken your video, you'll need to get it to the us. @Delayed_again has suggested using the WeTransfer service atwww.wetransfer.com and create an account, if you haven't already. Once you have logged in, upload your video to the site and when it asks where you want to send it, send it to: greaterangliacomplaints@gmail.com and please make sure you have the date and time of your video.  It is a very simple and quick process.

As a just in case measure, it might be worth transferring your video to your laptop or computer as a back up, just in case things go wrong and for some reason, the video doesn't get transferred to @Delayed_again.

If you are tweeting the video's too, please mention me (@RealDC80) and/or @Delayed_Again in your tweets.

Weekly Travel Report W/C 10/11/14

Station Codes:

SNF = Shenfield

CHM = Chelmsford

Monday 10th November
No Travel

Tuesday 11th November
12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360107 Carriage: 72557

2nd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:11 (1 Minute Early)

Temp: 20.1 to 21.1 C

Humidity: 52 to 53 %

Notes: Relatively clean seats, dirty floor. Info screens not updated past Stratford.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train: 360111 & 360116 Carriage: 74566

7th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:17 (1 Minute Late)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:26 (1 Minute Early)

Temp: 18.5 to 20.1 C

Humidity: 55 to 57 %

Notes: Smells of disinfectant, Dougal is no more, dirty carpets other than new section where Dougal was. Threadbare seats.

Wednesday 12th November

11:41 SNF to 11:52 CHM

Train: 321319 Carriage: 62993

3rd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 11:41 (On Time)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:43 (2 Minutes Late)

Pulled into CHM @ 11:54 (2 Minutes Late - 18 Minutes early compared to normal train)

Temp: 21.5 to 21.8 C

Humidity: 60 %

Notes: Got to SNF early as 12:03 and 12:11 services have been cancelled due to overhead cable issues in the Witham area. Busy, couldn't get a seat. Info displays not working. Train terminates at Witham rather than Clacton-On-Sea. 

20:56 CHM to 21:08 SNF
Train: 360105 & 116 Carriage: 68566

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:04 (8 Minutes Late)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:05 (9 Minutes Late)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:16 (8 Minutes Late - 11 Minutes early compared to normal train)

Temp: 20.1 to 20.2 C

Humidity: 54 to 62 %

Notes: Threadbare seats and dirty floors. Got this train instead of 21:16 service because it was running sufficiently late. 

Thursday 13th November

No Travel

Friday 14th November

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM

Train: 360121 Carriage: 74571

2nd of 4 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 12:11 (1 Minute Early)

Temp: 19.2 to 20.4 C

Humidity: 61 to 62 %

Notes: Threadbare seats, dirty floors.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train: 360113 & 112 Carriage: 65562

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)

Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (1 Minute Early)

Temp: 19.4 to 20.7 C

Humidity: 55 to 59 %

Notes: Dirty floors, dirty seats.

Saturday 15th November

11:03 SNF to 11:12 CHM

Train: 360102 & 114 Carriage: 68564

5th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into SNF @ 11:01 (2 Minutes Early)

Pulled out of SNF @ 11:03 (On Time)

Pulled into CHM @ 11:11 (1 Minute Early)

Temp: 20.4 to 21.4 C

Humidity: 59 to 62 %

Notes: Usual dirty floors and dirty seats. Info sign not working.

19:56 CHM to 20:08 SNF
Train: 360113 & 112 Carriage: 74562

7th of 8 Carriages

Pulled into CHM @ 20:12 (16 Minutes Late - 3 Minutes late compared to normal train)

Pulled out of CHM @ 20:13 (17 Minutes Late - 4 Minutes late compared to normal train)

Pulled into SNF @ 20:27 (19 Minutes Late - 8 Minutes late compared to normal train)

Temp: 19.9 to 20.4 C

Humidity: 56 to 59 %

Notes: Train running late, points failure, would have got 20:09 train if I hadn't got this one. Walked through all four carriages on 360112, sat down in 74562. Filthy, rubbish everywhere. Behind slow moving freight train.

Sunday 16 November

No Travel

General Notes:

Three separate disruptions on the trains this week. Twice I was able to get an earlier running train and get to my destination earlier than normal. Once I got an earlier, but late running train, so ended up being 8 minutes later than I should have done. Trains were all in a disgusting condition and needed cleaning and litter picking.

Weekly Travel Report W/C 3/11/14

Train Codes:
SNF = Shenfield
CHM = Chelmsford

Monday 3rd November
Special Travel Report accessible here: http://dcabellioga.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/special-travel-report-31114.html

Tuesday 4th November

12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM
Train 360102 Carriage 74552 - 3rd (from the front) of 4 carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 minute early)
Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)
Pulled into CHM @ 12:12 (On Time)
Temp: 17.0 to 19.1 degrees Celsius
Humidity: 51 to 54 %
Notes: Rubbish floors but other than that, relatively clean. Ticket inspectors and cleaners on board, although cleaner missed rubbish under seat opposite me.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train 360117 & 360113 Carriage 65563 - 5th of 8 carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)
Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)
Temp: 19.2 to 20.5 C
Humidity: 47 to 50 %
Notes: Absolutely filthy! Threadbare seats.

Wednesday 5th November
12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM
Train 360102 Carriage 74552 - 3rd of 4 carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 12:02 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)
Pulled into CHM @ 12:11 (1 Minute Early)
Temp: 17.2 to 19.1 C
Humidity: 52 to 56 %
Notes: Dirty seats, other than that, relatively clean.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train 360113 & 360121 Carriage 65571 - 5th of 8 carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)
Pulled into SNF @ 21:25 (2 Minutes Early)
Temp: 18.3 to 19.6 C
Humidity: 47 %
Notes: Dirty threadbare seats and dirty carpet.

Thursday 6th November
12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM
Train 360119 Carriage 72569 - 2nd of 4 carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 12:05 (2 Minutes Late)
Pulled out of SNF @ 12:06 (3 Minutes Late)
Pulled into CHM @ 12:26 (14 Minutes Late)
Temp: 16.4 to 20.5 C
Humidity: 49 to 57 %
Notes: Busy on 74569, couldn't get a seat, so went to 72569 and got a seat, floors and seats filthy, cleaner on board. Signalling issues near Ingatestone and trespasser on line near Witham - travel report on the way to the station. Level crossing issue near Ingatestone - informed by the driver.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train 360102 & 360117 Carriage 65567- 5th of 8 carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 21:15 (1 Minute Early)
Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)
Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)
Temp: 19.5 to 20.3 C
Humidity: 49 to 51 %
Notes: Usual threadbare seats and dirty floors.

Friday 7th November
12:03 SNF to 12:12 CHM
Train 360105 Carriage 72555 - 2nd of 4 carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 12:03 (On Time)
Pulled out of SNF @ 12:05 (2 Minutes Late)
Pulled into CHM @ 12:12 (On Time)
Temp: 19.5 to 19.9 C
Humidity: 56 to 57 %
Notes: Horrible smell coming from the toilet. Ticket inspectors on board. Temp getting gradually colder.

21:16 CHM to 21:27 SNF
Train 360119 & 360118 Carriage 68568 - 5th of 8 carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 21:14 (2 Minutes Early)
Pulled out of CHM @ 21:16 (On Time)
Pulled into SNF @ 21:24 (3 Minutes Early)
Temp: 19.5 to 21.0 C
Humidity: 51 to 52 %
Notes: Splash stains on some seats, papers everywhere.

Saturday 8th November
11:03 SNF to 11:12 CHM
Train 360104 & 360102 Carriage 74552 - 6th of 8 carriages
Pulled into SNF @ 11:04 (1 Minute Late)
Pulled out of SNF @ 11:05 (2 Minutes Late)
Pulled into CHM @ 11:13 (1 Minute Late)
Temp: 20.6 to 21.2 C
Humidity: 55 to 56 %
Notes: Relatively clean seats with faded backs, dirty carpets.

20:09-20:19 CHM-SNF
Train 321355 & 321441 Carriage 78161 - 5th of 8 carriages
Pulled into CHM @ 20:12 (3 Minutes Late)
Pulled out of CHM @ 20:13 (4 Minutes Late)
Pulled into SNF @ 20:22 (3 Minutes Late)
Temp: 18.9 to 19.2 C
Humidity: 55 to 59 %
Notes: Rowdy chavs on the train stood on the seats and playing loud music, drinking alcohol, litter on other seats.

Sunday 9th November
No Travel

General Notes:
A total of 18 minutes late on my normal travel, 59 minutes in total if you include Monday's travel from Bedworth to Shenfield, thanks to AGA's issues on Monday night.

Special Travel Report 3/11/14

Special Travel Report for Monday 3 November 2014

Station Codes:

Bedworth = BEH (Managed by London Midland)

Coventry = COV (Managed by Virgin Trains)

London Euston = EUS (Managed by Network Rail)

Moorgate = MOG (Managed by Transport for London)

London Liverpool Street = LST (Managed by Network Rail)

Gidea Park = GDP (Managed by Abellio Greater Anglia)

Shenfield = SNF (Managed by Abellio Greater Anglia)

London Midland Leg

20:22 BEH to 20:34 COV

Train: 153365 - Carriage: 57365 - 1 Carriage Train. (British Rail / BR Class 153 Diesel Multiple Unit / DMU)

Pulled into BEH @ 20:21 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of BEH @ 20:22 (On Time)

Pulled into COV @ 20:35 (1 Minute Late)

Temperature: 18.8 to 21.4 degrees Celsius

Humidity: 44 to 46 %

Notes: A little bit of rubbish on the floor, but not a great deal.

Virgin Trains Leg

21:11 COV to 22:13 EUS

Train: 390112 - Carriage: 69912 - 10th carriage (from the front of the train) of 11 carriages. (BR Class 390 / Pendolino 11 Carriage Electric Multiple Unit / EMU)

Pulled into COV @ 21:10 (1 Minute Early)

Pulled out of COV @ 21:11 (On Time)

Pulled into EUS @ 22:16 (3 Minutes Late)

Temperature: 15.3 to 25.0 C

Humidity: 39 to 54 %

Notes: Clean and tidy, nice place to be, Cleaner on board, train manager checked peoples tickets.

London Underground Leg

Line: Northern (Bank Branch) - Carriage: 53525 (1995 Stock)

Pulled into EUS @ 22:26

Pulled out of EUS @ 22:26

Pulled into MOG @ 22:35

Temperature: 22.1 to 22.4 C

Humidity: 44 to 47 %

Notes: Clean and tidy

Line: Metropolitan - Carriage: 22068 (S Stock)

Pulled into MOG @ 22:41

Pulled out of MOG @ 22:41

Pulled into LST @ 22:42

Temperature: 22.1 C

Humidity: 45 %

Notes: Clean and tidy

Abellio Greater Anglia Leg

I was due to get the 23:02 LST to 23:31 SNF service, but because of severe delays caused by a train hitting an object near Harold Wood, I don't actually know when the trains I got on were supposed to run.

LST-GDP

Train: 315855 & 315814 - Carriage: 71404 - 7th of 8 carriages (BR Class 315 4 Carriage EMU - 2 units coupled together to form an 8 carriage train)

Pulled out of LST @ 23:00

Pulled into GDP @ 23:49

Temperature: 20.3 to 21.0 C

Humidity: 47 to 55 %

Notes: Train was supposed to terminate at SNF, but was terminated prematurely at GDP and returned to LST. Driver told us to get off and wait for the next train which would take passengers to SNF.

GDP-SNF

Train: 315802 & 315824 - Carriage: 71304 - 6th of 8 carriages (BR Class 315 4 Carriage EMU - 2 units coupled together to form an 8 carriage train)

Pulled into GDP @ 23:57

Pulled out of GDP @ 23:58

Pulled into SNF @ 00:12

Temperature: 17.9 to 20.2 C

Humidity: 43 to 47 %

Notes: Second attempt to get to SNF, carriage was dirty and seats were a mess.

General Notes:

Overall, the journey was going well until I got to Liverpool Street. AGA's total lack organisation was apparent, yet again. Judging by a tweet from JH this morning, they still didn't know what got hit by the train at Harold Wood, distinct contrast to how Virgin Trains dealt with the delays on 26th October. Although, saying that the member of AGA staff I spoke to at LST was pleasant enough when I asked her what was going on, but she, like everyone else had no real idea what was going on. I have just tweeted AGA to ask if they now know what got hit by a train, GK replied, telling me that the train hit a stag.

Reply 2 from Jamie Burles

On 29th September I sent Jamie Burles another e-mail in relation to the one he originally sent me in response to my first e-mail I sent him. Here was my e-mail:

Dear Mr Burles,

Thank you for getting back to me after my previous e-mail from 26th July.

My first point will be in regard to your cleaning of your trains. You promised me, in your e-mail dated 19th August, that 360116 will be checked and cleaned ASAP, however, I have travelled on 360116 a few times since I received your e-mail, the most recent of which was Friday 26th September, and the orange stain is still there. You may find it unsurprising that whenever 360116 pulls in and is operating a service I use, I specifically go to carriage 74566 to see if it's still there and despite your promise and the continued promises of your Twitter team, it has never been cleaned, given the fact I first pointed it out on 14th February! That's over 7 months now Mr Burles.

Going on to other trains in your fleet, the carpets and seats on your Class 360 trains are generally dirty from where they've not been cleaned for a long time, whether it be from stains, crumbs, dust or even mould. In your e-mail you also promised me that you were in the process of increasing the deep clean to every month, clearly, this hasn't happened yet. It's been a month and 10 days since you e-mailed me, 2 months since I e-mailed you and nearly 3 months since the meeting at Westminster, yet we're still no further forward than we were prior to the meeting.

With regard to Chelmsford Railway Station, there has been no further visible work done to the station since you e-mailed me. I occasionally see contractors from Spence walking around, but not actually doing any work. While I appreciate they may not be true, I have heard rumours than when Abellio budgeted for the work being done on the station, you didn't budget for labour costs, which is why a lot of work has started but not been completed, such as the new stairwell tower connected to the main station building and the small extension opposite M&S Simply Food. As you can appreciate, commuters and even station staff are now getting frustrated with the works being dragged out without any noticeable signs of continuation of works and no signs of the work being completed any time soon. Jackie Gibbs herself went through the station on Wednesday or Thursday this past week as she came into M&S, where I work and looked shocked to see me.

Another possibly untrue rumour I'd like you to address is about the Class 360 trains being cascaded to First Transpennine Express along with the Class 360s used by Heathrow Express. While your 360s are often dirty and have extremely threadbare seats, given the fact that with the exception of the Class 379 trains, the Class 360 trains are your newest trains. So if true, this would be extremely short sighted, especially Abellio haven't ordered any new trains and don't look as though they're going to any time soon. And if true, you'll either have 21 less train sets, including 44 carriages, or you have plans to replace them with other trains, maybe the 20 Class 321's from Govia Thameslink/First Capital Connect (who are cascading Class 377 trains from Southern) and from London Midland (who have just ordered 10 new Class 350 trains). Could you please clarify if this is true and if so, if you are replacing them and what with?

Thank you for taking the time to read my e-mail and I look forward to your response.

Reagrds,
Daniel Collins.

And here is Mr Burles' response:

Dear Mr Collins,
Thank you for your email of 29 September 2014 regarding your regular journey between Shenfield & Chelmsford.

I have spoken with our fleet manager who has advised that the stain on carriage 74566 which you refer to is permanent and has in fact caused damage to the carpet, which is why the stain has remained for longer than anyone would wish. As a result, a new carpet was ordered a few weeks ago and was fitted over the weekend of 10-13 October 2014. I have also been assured that the unit has been subject to a deep clean over the past few weeks.  

With regards to seat covers, I hope to be able to announce progress in that area in a short time from now. I said I would look into these things and I have done. Things don’t happen overnight, especially when we are talking about hundreds of thousands of pounds of unbudgeted expenditure. We are not funded to replace these seat covers this franchise (I am sure you remember the fact that we tried to include this in our recent contract negotiations with DfT and in the end it couldn’t be included). Therefore, I have had to think of different ways to achieve this and I hope to be able to communicate the solution shortly.  

We also try to keep our trains in an acceptable condition by cleaning and servicing them at the end of the day. Unfortunately, on busy routes it is not always possible to maintain the standard of cleanliness we would like throughout the day.  However, we are about to invest in a significant number of additional cleaners (again unbudgeted), which will certainly make a difference. Some of these brand new, additional cleaners will be mobile, which will help keep the trains clean throughout the day.

With regards to Chelmsford station, once work had commenced and during the enabling works, some unforeseen and significant problems emerged with the existing structure and this meant the original building work proposals had to be fundamentally redesigned to include more substantial steelwork on larger foundations. Please bear in mind that this is a structure we inherited from Network Rail in 2012 and this is the first time that we have actually engaged in significantly intrusive structural work at the station.

As a result of this, we re-planned the work into phases, commencing with the new tower entrance and prioritised this to be completed as programmed. The next phrase sees WH Smith refitted.  

We are currently finalising the redesign of the building structure with the contractors, taking into account the fundamental alternations needed. As things stand, we currently plan to recommence the main building works in November. As you might imagine, we are desperate to deliver this positive project as soon as possible - a fundamentally upgraded station is better for everyone. Needless to say, the rumour you have heard and mentioned in your letter is untrue.

Sticking with the rumours, needless to say the rumour you heard regarding the Class 360 fleet is also not true.  The lease for the 360s is secure until at least the end of the current franchise.

Once again thank you for taking the time to contact me.

Yours sincerely
Jamie Burles
Managing Director
Abellio Greater Anglia

So there you go, another load of spin and lies as usual? We'll see.